Hollow Knight

I have a massive love-hate relationship with Hollow Knight. There were moments where I genuinely wanted to throw my controller at the wall, turn off my console, and pretend this game didn't exist. It is brutal, unforgiving, and tests your patience like nothing else.Let’s just get this out of the way: The Path of Pain is actual, literal torture. Spending hours dying on the exact same set of spikes, mistiming a double-jump by a millisecond, and hearing that relentless buzzsaw sound effect on loop almost broke my spirit. Team Cherry really leaned into the "pain" part of that title. And it’s not just White Palace; it's getting lost in the Deepnest with no map, losing thousands of Geo because you died on the way back to your shade, and hitting a brick wall against bosses like Nightmare King Grimm or Absolute Radiance. There were times I felt genuinely defeated.

No gamer should go without playing this game. I argue it's necessary. This is my favorite game of all time and in my honest opinion it is the best metroidvania ever made. I love Silksong as well, but I need more time to learn more about it to claim it's better than Hollow Knight.

deepnest!!!!!!! i may be a easily scared loser but deepnest sucks!!!!!! get the game and stop looking at negative reviews

Hollow Knight is a metroidvania widely regarded as one of the best games of all time by people, I am someone who has played a lot of Metroidvanias so I will give my fair review if its so-called legendary status holds grounds. If you do not understand what a metroidvania is, it's simply a platformer with a huge interconnected world where you are encouraged to explore as much as possible, where traversal upgrades which lead to paths once inaccessible is usually how you typically progress in a metroidvania. Now, Hollow Knight is definitely a game with a ton of content, for someone inexperienced at this genre I say that this could very well be a game which satisfies many for its generous pricing and vast quantity. Now let's go over some positives, I think the world itself has a coherence in how it's connected, the city of tears for example is fittingly at the centre whilst you can get a coherent idea where fungal wastes are from crossroads which makes it quite easy later on to not get lost, which is perhaps something other metroidvanias struggle with. The animations are also very beautiful to look at with a very expressive artstyle, it has a rather vague but simple to grasp story which I think satisfies those who do not wish to get too invested. Now on to the things I thought were less good, first off the charm system itself which are equippable passive abilities are a fine thing by themselves, however. Having a compass be an equippable passive is a dumb decision for a Metroidvania, the common counter-argument would be that you can unequip it for bosses but that is exactly what makes it counterintuitive, it should have been integrated without the thought of being an equippable passive, but a permanent one that does not take up slots. The combat was a bit dull in my opinion, and this comes from someone who enjoyed a lot of Metroidvanias. You do not have much expression in combat but I suppose that's why this reaches a wider audience for its simplicity. Where it's fair to critique however is that many enemies and especially bosses are very identical. Many bosses for some reason have two of the same attacks, a lunge attack and a dive attack (Take the mantis lord and hollow knight boss as one of many examples which follow this trend). This makes boss fights very predictable to me, I wish bosses had more spectacle and variation instead of a reskin of the same idea but some slight revamped gimmicks. People usually call this game difficult but it really isn't, it's about reading patterns and because the patterns are very similar, I think this is something people from the more casual side are declaring, but all in all if you have experience with this genre it's not "ninja gaiden" levels of difficulty, it's average difficulty at best. Which is no issue at all, the critique is not on the difficulty of the game but rather the samey nature of many of the bosses. The expression of movement is also a little lackluster to me compared to other metroidvanias as really the only thing you will be using is your normal dash and double jump to pass areas, with the occasional usage of the crystal dash. Some may say "but of course you can pogo stick the spikes to traverse" but that isn't exactly my point. My point is that I wish there were more abilities in the toolkit while traversing as seen in other Metroidvanias. But again, that is more of a personal preference. I think the biggest and most fair critique however is that the map system is flawed. I can get behind the idea that you need to buy maps to access parts of it, and that more of the map is revealed to you when you sit down on a bench and write down the rest of the map. The issue however is that when the character writes down the map it is widely inconsistent. If you barely explored one huge area, take the huge are of the crystal caverns, you will be confused to see that there is an area with rooms below, this creates unnecessary backtracking. A more simpler solution would be to write down the map partially to what has been revealed to the player character's point of view. This is why the grid system from Metroid and Castlevania which have the maps as blue squares, each grid/square gets filled yellow once you fully pass the area which is in my opinion the definitive way of handling maps in a metroidvania. Overall though I know I wrote a lot of critiques but I still recommend the game, I just don't believe it's the greatest metroidvania as that would put it at a too huge pedestal. For an average player this is definitely an enjoyable experience and you are getting your money's worth with the 15 euro price tag. I hope that Silksong solves some of my critiques of the game. Final score after getting the true ending: 8/10

"Every corner of Hollow Knight is crafted with care. The atmosphere, soundtrack, exploration, and boss fights come together to create one of the greatest games ever made."

Dying multiple times is part of the game, just accept that!! That's what I tell myself when I spend hours in trying to beat a boss. It's a challenging game, lots of hair pulling fun! It has beautiful artwork, smooth movement and interesting lore. I recommend for the players who loves a free-roaming type gameplay, challenging boss fights and patient enough to not rage quit.

fun mechanics and fire music. bosses are challenging but enjoyable

just started this game, and its already amazing. from the soundtrack, the enviroment and the playstyles. i already got spoiler for the overall story, but there are still many thing that amaze me.

Hollow Knight is genuinely one of the best games I have ever played. From the very first moments, I was completely drawn into its mysterious atmosphere, its incredible world-building, and the feeling that every corner of Hallownest had a story waiting to be discovered. It is a game that manages to create such a strong emotional connection through its environment, its characters, its music, and even through its silence. There is something truly special about the way Hollow Knight makes you feel like a small part of a much bigger and forgotten world. The art direction is absolutely beautiful. The designs of the areas, the creatures, the characters, and the overall atmosphere are unforgettable. Every location feels unique, with its own identity, mood, and history. The environments are full of details, and it is impressive how much emotion and personality the developers managed to put into a world without relying on constant dialogue. The ruins of Hallownest, the mysterious landscapes, and the contrast between peaceful and dangerous places make exploration feel genuinely rewarding. The soundtrack is also one of the strongest parts of the game. The music perfectly matches every situation, whether it is a quiet moment of exploration, a sad and emotional scene, or an intense boss fight. The compositions create a feeling of loneliness, wonder, and mystery that fits the world perfectly. Some tracks stay in your mind long after you stop playing because they are so memorable and powerful. The gameplay itself is also incredible. The movement feels satisfying, the combat is challenging but rewarding, and the progression system makes you want to keep exploring and improving. The difficulty can be high at times, but overcoming difficult bosses or reaching new areas gives such a strong sense of achievement. The game respects the player and encourages patience, curiosity, and learning from mistakes. One thing I personally found a little difficult, however, is the visual clarity in some situations. Because of my eyesight, I sometimes struggled to distinguish certain elements from the background, especially when the colours, shadows, and details blended together. The beautiful artistic style can occasionally make it harder to immediately recognise the outlines of characters, platforms, or important objects. I think it is a shame that the game does not always have clearer visual indicators or simpler outlines, because it could make the experience more accessible for players who have difficulties with contrast or visual perception. This is not a criticism of the art itself the art is genuinely amazing but sometimes the beauty and complexity of the visuals can make certain moments harder to read. Despite that, it never took away from how incredible the game is. Hollow Knight is a masterpiece in atmosphere, design, storytelling, and emotion. The world feels alive, the characters feel meaningful, and every discovery feels like something you earned. It is rare for a game to create such a strong feeling of mystery while still making the player feel connected to its world.

this game was amazing but not perfect!, this is my first metroid vania so found it pretty rough up until around the mid point where it finally clicked i streamed this game so i had the help of the community, without that i wouldve been so loss and wouldnt have known where to go so if your prepared to explore for hours this is for you combat was really fun/quick/punchy! i recommend this if your looking for a good platform/souls like kinda 8/10 god bless